Wait a minute......where did this band come from? This album was my first exposure to this band which, after reading their bio on the band's homepage, carries quite a history with it. This album is in fact their 5th album with Paradoxes, released in 1993, being their first. Since then, this band from Krefeld Germany, have built up quite a following in the progressive music scene and have a very successful tour with Fish, formerly of Marillion, to their credit. Like the metal scene, the world of progressive rock has seen it's share of new bands exploding onto the scene. With the release of Dream Theater's Images And Words album in 1992, progressive rock music was given a shot in the arm and was very much back in fashion again. Since then, bands like Spock's Beard, Transatlantic, Ayreon, Shadow Gallery and Liquid Tension Experiment have expanded the boundaries of prog rock into new uncharted territory.

Everon is a band that defintely wears it's roots and influences proudly on their sleeves and although they don't break any new ground here, offer up a tasty slice of excellent progressive hard rock. The band's overall sound is a perfect balance between progressive rock and progressive metal. Thick chunky guitar passages in a few of the tracks give a somewhat more metal edge to what is otherwise a classic progressive rock sound. The sound of this band is very impressive, excellent passionate vocal deliveries combined with the perfect balance of drums, guitars and keyboards and an almost flawless production give this band the sound of very seasoned veterans. The vocal harmonies are really a highlight to this album as well, adding elements of color and warmth. The band uses fairly simple arrangements for their music, as opposed to adding tons of over the top and sometimes unnecessary riffs and time signature changes that many prog rock bands like to do. All songs are very concise and to the point. Excellent use of very thematic guitar and piano passages set a wonderful tone and atmosphere for each track.

A few tracks namely, Juliet, Travelling Shoes, If You Were Still Mine and Harbor remind me of a Fish -era Marillion style with the expressive leads and very heart-felt and personal vocal delivery. These tracks feature a power ballad style with alternating mellow/hard passages. Juliet has a classic storytelling vocal line found on a few Marillion tracks such as Jigsaw, Kayleigh and Sugar Mice. It uses different vocal tones from quiet and pleasant to menacing and evil to tell a menacing story of a Romeo and Juliet style relationship that goes horribly wrong. It's great to hear a band continuing this legacy of a truly classic songwriting style.

The more harder-edged side of this band can be heard on tracks such as Across The Land, Driven and Ten Years Late. All feature healthy doses of almost metal-like guitar riffs. Across The Land is very spirited, energetic and melodic with some nice melody changes. Driven features more of a thematic riffing structure and Ten Years Late, with it's Dream Theater style arrangement, is one of the heavier songs on this release. One true highlight of this album is the instrumental song, Puppet Show. With it's quirky rhythms and very off-beat structure, it utilizes lots of guitar and keyboard riffs and leads all following a loose theme which flows through the track. A very intense song!

This band really took me by surprise. Being a huge progressive rock fan and also someone who loves the glory days of Marillion (1982 - 1988), this release seems to fill a void that, for me anyway, has existed for quite a while. It's not that they rip off Marillion, they seem to have recaptured the spirit of that band but with a style that is uniquely their own. I also hear some elements of older Genesis in their sound and even some influences from the British prog rock pioneers, Camel. Some of the vocal melodies really remind me of another German prog band from the 70's called Triumvirat (anybody remember those guys?). What you have here is a very professional and also very good sounding band that combines all the right elements to produce a very enjoyable album. Once again, and you've heard me say this many times, you'll walk away singing some of the melodies on this album even after the first listen. Outstanding stuff!....definitely worth checking out